The Dual Process Model (DPM) proposes that adaptation to grief involves oscillating between two orientations: loss-orientation (confronting the pain of death, processing the bond) and restoration-orientation (managing secondary life changes, assuming new identities). This oscillation is not linear but fluid, and both are necessary for healthy adaptation.
Concept origin
Stroebe and Schut developed the DPM in 1999, published in Death Studies. It surpassed stage models (Kübler-Ross) because it explains normal grief variability without pathologizing it. It is the dominant theoretical framework in contemporary intervention research.
Therapeutic approach
DPM-based interventions help identify when a person is "stuck" in one of the two poles — avoiding pain or unable to function — and work on oscillation flexibility through emotional regulation exercises and gradual behavioral activation.
Related concepts
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